Kevorkian To Be Released Early; Disability Advocates Predict
'Miraculous' Recovery
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
December 19, 2006
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN--State corrections
officials announced on December 13 that the Michigan Parole Board had agreed to
release Jack Kevorkian on June 1, 2007, which is his earliest possible release
date under his 10-25 year sentence for second-degree murder that he began
serving in 1999.
The day after the announcement, Kevorkian attorney Mayer Morganroth sent
a letter to Governor Jennifer Granholm, asking that his client be released even
earlier because of his deteriorating health.
Granholm spokesperson Liz Boyd said the governor would wait to act until
the Department of Corrections and the parole board have made their
recommendations on Morganroth's request. Boyd added that Morganroth has made
four similar requests since 2003 -- each of them claiming that Kevorkian had
less than a year to live.
The disability rights group Not Dead Yet, which was originally formed in
response to Kevorkian's assisted suicide crusade, released a statement on
December 14, in which they predicted that, if Kevorkian were released early, he
would likely go through a "near-miraculous" recovery -- at least enough for him
to make numerous media appearances and speaking engagements. First on his list
of public appearances would likely be Mike Wallace or Barbara Walters, who
could be expected to do a "very sympathetic and biased interview" with
Kevorkian, Not Dead Yet noted.
"They'll downplay his history of helping non-terminally ill disabled
people commit suicide and portray him as some kind of martyr," Not Dead Yet
wrote. "They won't mention his advocacy of lethal experimentation on death row
prisoners or disabled infants at all."
Many disability rights advocates have long opposed Kevorkian and his
public crusade to legalize assisted suicide. They have argued that doing so
would essentially make it "open season" for people with disabilities who are
often considered a "burden" on society -- particularly at a time when the cost
of health care is high. They have also noted that many people Kevorkian
"helped" end their lives were not in the final stages of terminal illnesses,
but instead had disabilities and were in emotional, psychological or social
crises, which made them more vulnerable.
Kevorkian was convicted in March 1999 of second-degree murder after
inducing the death of Thomas Youk, a man who had amyotropic lateral sclerosis,
commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian's conviction came after
replaying Youk's videotaped death on the "60 Minutes" CBS television news
magazine. His release next June would come eight years into his sentence, with
time reduced for good behavior.
Morganroth appealed to the state parole board earlier this year asking
for Kevorkian to be pardoned, or his sentence to be commuted, because his
doctors said the 78-year-old "Dr. Death" had a long list of other medical
conditions, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, temporal
arthritis, and active Hepatitis C, and would die in less than a year.
But the parole board recommended Kevorkian stay behind bars at least
until next June. Granholm has consistently followed the board's recommendations
regarding Kevorkian.
Kevorkian admitted helping at least 130 people to take their lives in a
campaign to promote legalization of physician-assisted suicide. In May, he
reportedly said that he now realizes he chose the wrong tactics, and instead
should have lobbied "verbally" for legalization.
Related:
"Dr. Death Gets Out of Jail" by Wesley J. Smith (The
Weekly Standard)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/1219a.htm
"2007
release of Dr. Kevorkian from Coldwater prison opposed" (The Daily
Reporter)
http://www.thedailyreporter.com/articles/2006/12/16/news/news02.txt
"Prison
time likely hasn't changed Kevorkian's mind"
(The Oakland Press)
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/121906/opi_2006121928.shtml
"Kevorkian
videotaped the crime; he should still do more time" (Detroit News)
http://info.detnews.com/weblog/index.cfm?blogid=8825
Not
Dead Yet
http://www.notdeadyet.org
"Jack
Kevorkian -- 'Dr. Death'" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/advocacy/kevorkian.htm
---
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with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
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